Goodnight Lenin - Portrait Of Youth

1.    Who are Goodnight Lenin?

Goodnight Lenin are an indie rock band from Birmingham, England. They have been together since 2011 and have one album in the bag. Portrait Of Youth (March’17) is a standalone single. 

2. Is Portrait Of Youth any good? 

Yeah. A slow, ponderous piano intro sets an epic tone to a melancholic build up to a furious strum out. It's a special kind of guitar driven indie heaven but if it's you, it's you. Try out Portrait Youth. 

3. Who do Goodnight Lenin sound like? 

The War On Drugs, The Airborne Toxic Event, and (an Irish) Bruce Springsteen. 

4. What is the word from the press about Portrait Of Youth? 

“Authentic and raw” – And So She Thinks.

“A rock anthem in the making” – Counter Act. 

“Splicing alt-country DNA with an almost punk spirit” – The Hearing Aid.

5. Which bands inspired Goodnight Lenin? 

Some of their main influences are Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bob Dylan, Father John Misty, and Fleet Foxes. 


6. Why should I give Portrait Of Youth a spin?

Because you like a bit of Irish. Because you like an epic. Because you won't hear this on the radio. 


7. What are Goodnight Lenin's best songs?

Desire is good. 


8. Any more words? 

Legs.

“The greatest weight is a heavy mind”

Bonaparte is the Swiss indie rock/electronic musician Tobias Jundt who lives in Berlin, Germany. He is similar to Frizka Viljor and I Heart Sharks. Fuck Your Accent (April'17) is a single from his fifth album The Return Of Stravinsky Wellington (June'17). Bonaparte is an eccentric musical genius who produces quirky pop gems and if you don't like the instant, but disposable, charm of FYA try the maudlin slow burn of Melody X. 

“Don’t understand half the words you say,

I love how you say it anyway”

RAT BOY - Revolution

1.    Who are RAT BOY?

RAT BOY are a popular indie rock/alternative hip hop band fronted by Jordan Cardy. He is from Chelmsford, England and started making noise in 2014. He has made three E.P’s and Revolution (April’17)  is a two track E.P.   

2. What have RAT BOY served up? 

Revolution is snarky rap verses spit out like broken teeth in a bare knuckle fist fight and a massive chorus underpinned by moshpit filling guitar riffs. A belter that is more contagious than a Thai hooker's axe wound.

3. Who do RAT BOY sound like? 

The Beastie Boys, Jamie T, and The Streets.

4. What have the press said about Revolution? 

“A snarling tirade against the dystopian state of young people” – NME.

“Big chorus rap attack” – Indie Central Music.

“Chaotic blend of punk and hip hop” – Let It Happen.

5. Which bands inspired RAT BOY?

RAT BOY’s main influences are The Clash, The Streets, Kendrick Lamar, Morrissey and Kasabian. 

6. Why should I give Revolution a spin? 

Because you like punk mixed with hip hop. Because you like the Beastie Boys. Because you're a sucker for a massive chorus.

7. What are RAT BOY's best songs? 

Sign On, Move and  Fake I.D. are the ones you want. 

8. Any more words?

Revolution was recorded at the Beastie Boys’ studio Oscilloscope in New York. 

“I was alright until they took me off my medication”

28 Days are a punk rock/rap band from Melbourne, Australia. They started up in 1997 and are still going strong. They have four albums on their roll of honor. 28 Days sound like Beastie Boys, Butterfingers and Grinspoon. They are influenced by NOFX, Bad Religion and Blink-182. Rip It Up is the band's highest charting song and came from their number one album Upstyledown (2000). The AU Review said Upstyledown, “cemented 28 Days in the Australian music culture as the voice of an Australian generation.”

“Don’t pack a gun so I don’t do gangster rap,

I kick it over this riff, roll a spliff”

Gang Of Youths - What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out

1.    Who are Gang Of Youths? 

Gang Of Youths are a popular indie rock band from Sydney, Australia. Their debut album The Positions (2015) made it to number five in the Aussie charts and their E.P. Let Me Be Clear (2016) to number two.

What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out? (Feb’17) is the lead single from Gang Of Youth’s second album Go Farther In Lightness (August’17). 

2. What kind of song is What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out? 

A cacophonous minute of flailing drums and melodious guitar augur a song that contains a firestorm of doubts and a soul in torment. What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out is dark, dense, and fucking intense indie rock; recalling the blood stirring 'death or glory' of early U2. 

3. Who do Gang Of Youths sound like?

Gaslight Anthem, U2, and The National.

4. What have the press said about What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out?

“A relentlessly driving anthem” – Stereogum.

“An epic five minutes of festival-ready rock’n’roll” – Music Feeds.

“Anthemic, frenetic and not wasting a damn second” – The AU Review.

5. Which bands inspired Gang Of Youths?

Their main influences are U2, Bruce Springsteen, Pavement and The Replacements.  


6. Why should I give What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out a listen? 

Because you like songs with the intensity that can turn a turd into a diamond. 


7. What are Gang Of Youths best songs? 

Strange Diseases  and Benevolence Riots are more of the good stuff.


8. Any more words? 

The lead singer, Dave Leaupepe tried to kill himself when he was 22. 

“ ‘Cause I was only a kid,

When I felt you tossed me aside”

The Riptide Movement are a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. They started in 2006 and have four albums. The Riptide Movement sound like Kings Of Leon and Gaslight Anthem. They are influenced by Bruce Springsteen and Creedence Clearwater Revival. It All Works Out (2013) is from The Riptide Movement's third album Getting Through (2014). That album made it to number one on the Irish charts and It All Works Out was the stand out song; a tune The Guardian called “an instantly stirring indie rocker.”

“I’m with you every step of the way,

Tomorrows a new day”

Bleached - Flipside

1. Who are Bleached?

Bleached are a punk rock band from Los Angeles, California. They started in 2010 and have two albums. Flipside (Feb’17) is the second single from the E.P. Can You Deal? (March’17). 

2. What kind of tune is Flipside?

Flipside rides a solid punk riff for all its worth. Dreamy harmonies encourage flights of fancy and there are some grunge elements to flesh the song out. A good tune from a great band.

3. Who do Bleached sound like? 

Best Coast, La Sera and Tacocat.

4. What have the press said about Flipside? 

“Sunbaked pop-punk” – Spin. 

“A 90’s alt-rock throwback with power-pop bona fides” – Stereogram. 

“Pleasantly sentimental” – Consequence Of Sound. 

5. Which bands inspired Bleached?

Some of their influences are The Gun Club, Johnny Thunders, The Misfits, Joan Jett and Generation X. 


6. Why should I give Flipside a listen? 

Because you love a punk riff. Because you like Riot Grrrl bands.


7. What are Bleached's best songs? 

Wednesday Night Melody is fat rock riffs, Keep On Keepin' On brings the grunge to the table; but don't over look the sixties garage pop of For The Feel. 

8. Any more words?

Bleached are on tour this summer supporting The Damned.

“Standing up against the walls,

Rolling your eyes, every song”

Dude York are a power pop/punk band from Seattle, Washington. They sound like Tacocat and Hole. Dude York are influenced by Weezer and The Misfits. Tonight is a single from their second album Sincerely (Feb'17).  Tonight is a hard charging song about telling someone to kiss off. 

“Let’s wrap this up,

There’s somewhere I have to be tonight”

grandson - Best Friends

1.    Who is grandson?

grandson is Jordan Benjamin an indie rock musician from Toronto, Canada, but fighting out of Los Angeles, California. He makes music that blends a punk edge, grunge power and hip hop delivery. With less than a handful of songs to his name, Best Friends (April’17) is a standalone single. 

2. Has he got the goods? 

Best Friends is firing on all cylinders, slamming lyrics down like a gunfighter chambering rounds during a firefight. Full of piss and vinegar, burning along on smokey riffs, done and dusted in the magic three minutes, and with a pointed word about apathy;  Best Friends is a succinct banger.

3. Who does grandson sound like?

They are playing in the same sandpit as The Crispies, DZ Deathrays and Zion I.

4. What's the word on Best Friends? 

“This is unique” – YouTube Comments.

“Fucking awesome song” – YouTube Comments.

“I was waiting for the trap part to come in and when it does, it’s over” – YouTubeComments.

5. Which bands inspired grandson?

The main influences are Rage Against The Machine, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Twenty One Pilots and Hiatus Kaiyote. 


6. Why should I listen to Best Friends? 

Because it is a marriage of genres. Because you like garage rock. Because it has a word to say about how people do today.


7. What are grandson's best songs? 

Best Friends is top of the pile but Bills is very similar and Kiss Bang does (bang). 


8. Any more words?

Jordan Benjamin wants his music to make people angry and rage at social injustice, apathy and disenfranchisement.

“All of my best friends,

Like to go and get fucked up”

Sleeper Agent were an indie rock band from Bowling Green, Kentucky. They played from 2009 - 2015 and recorded two albums. Sleeper Agent are similar to The Von Bondies and Grouplove. They were influenced by The Black Lips and Foxy Shazam. Get It Daddy was the lead single from Sleeper Agent's debut album Celebrasion (2011) and the best song they ever made. Premier Guitar called it “a fist-bumping anthem” and “ferocious.” Get It Daddy is a punk song from a band yet to make concessions. 

“And I’m downright denim clad”

SuperGlu - Dreams

1. Who are SuperGlu? 

SuperGlu are an indie rock band with punk/pop/grunge influences. Hailing from Manningtree, England, they have been playing together since 2014. SuperGlu have one E.P. in the vault and Dreams (Nov'16) is a standalone single. 

2. Do they have the goods? 

And then some. This is the Real McCoy. Dreams is classic pop punk musically but it's a song with integrity at it's heart. Monster riffs, joyous vocals, and more bounce than a kangaroo on meth. Dreams is so instantly infectious it needs to come with a WHO warning.  

3. Who do SuperGlu sound like? 

Weezer meets Blink-182, and PARTYBABY.

4. What have the press said about Dreams?

“A vivacious, joy-filled creation” – Gig Slutz.

“Annoyingly catchy indie-pop by an irritatingly cheerful bunch” – Louder Than War.

“Raw punk energy streams through straightaway” – Music Of The Future.

5. Which bands influenced SuperGlu? 

They aren't saying.


6. Why should I give Dreams a whirl? 

Because you like the sound of 90's pop punk. Because SuperGlu do it better.


7. What are SuperGlu's best songs? 

Dreams is a bulls-eye, no doubt, but it's also a gateway to Simmer Down. That song is some next level shit. Simmer Down is all about a slow, orgiastic build; luxuriating in the lyrics and entrancing rhythms before it goes balls to the wall in the blowout. Championship-winning indie rock. Rounder is a more garage-pop tune and it's fucking outstanding too.


8. Any more words? 

Dreams has had over 100,000 Spotify plays which is worth about $500. The record company would rather sell a C.D.

“If wake up screaming in the morning,

Baby hold me close”

Friska Viljor are an indie pop duo from Stockholm, Sweden. They started making music in 2005 and have recorded six albums. Friska Viljor are generally similar to Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes, and Of Monsters and Men. They are influenced by beer. My Boys is a single from their sixth album My Name Is Friska Viljor (2015). My Boys is a poppy piece of malarky but the chorus with violin is a lovely little charger.  The song has been described as, “like a hurricane whipping a legion of musical elements and nostalgic moments up into the eye of its melodic storm.”

“No weight upon my chest”

The Kooks - Be Who You Are

1. Who are The Kooks?

The Kooks are a commercially successful indie pop rock band from Brighton, England. They started in 2004 and put down four long players. Be Who You Are (March'17) is a new single cut from their greatest hits album Best Of... So Far (May'17). 

2. Does Be Who You Are cut the mustard? 

Be Who You Are is a nostalgic reminder of what The Kooks used to do well; mawkish romance juxtaposed by a frisky, laddish, singalong. Nevermind that Be Who You Are has as much substance as cotton candy. With lyrics like, “Be who you are, baby you’re a star,” it's corny and it's supposed to be.

3. Who do The Kooks sound like? 

The Fratellis, Kasabian and Kaiser Chiefs. 

4. What have the rags said about Be Who You Are? 

“A fun, bright cut that is a pleasant blast from the past” – Baeble.

“As loveable as ever; all chanting chorus and feverish hook” – TMRW. 

“Upbeat and emits a positive vibe” – Wavebyte. 

5. Which bands have influenced The Kooks? 

Some of their influences are The Police, The Rolling Stones, Blur, The Strokes and The Libertines. 

6. Why should I listen to Be Who You Are? 

Because you like rollicking indie pop numbers with a little maudlin on the side. Because we all need a little frivolity. 

7. What are The Kooks best songs?

Naive obviously. It was the bands fourth single from their debut album and is The Kooks best selling single to date. Bad Habit from their last album, Listen (2014), is a good 'un and London Town is sound as a pound.

8. Any more words? 

Legs. 

“Never be a slave to your own name”

The Kaiser Chiefs are a successful indie rock band from Leeds, England. They have six albums on their roll of honor. Kaiser Chiefs are similar to Kasabian, The Kooks and Franz Ferdinand. They are influenced by The Clash, Blur and The Kinks. I Predict A Riot (2004) was the second single from Kaiser Chiefs' debut album Employment (2005). The poor bastards peaked early because it remains their best, and most well known, song. Drowned In Sound said this indie rock anthem has “a force not unlike a Boeing 747” that “makes you want to bounce up and down like a nutter.” I Predict A Riot is the musical essence of a horrible fucking menace.

“Girls scrabble around with no clothes on,

To borrow a pound for a condom,

If it wasn’t for chip fat they’d be frozen”